Skip to content

When I Was a Photographer
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

When I Was a Photographer Hardcover - 2015

by Felix Nadar; Eduardo Cadava (Translator); Liana Theodoratou (Translator)


From the publisher

The first complete English translation of Nadar's intelligent and witty memoir, a series of vignettes that capture his experiences in the early days of photography.

Celebrated nineteenth-century photographer--and writer, actor, caricaturist, inventor, and balloonist--Flix Nadar published this memoir of his photographic life in 1900 at the age of eighty. Composed as a series of vignettes (we might view them as a series of "written photographs"), this intelligent and witty book offers stories of Nadar's experiences in the early years of photography, memorable character sketches, and meditations on history. It is a classic work, cited by writers from Walter Benjamin to Rosalind Krauss. This is its first and only complete English translation.

In When I Was a Photographer (Quand j'tais photographe), Nadar tells us about his descent into the sewers and catacombs of Paris, where he experimented with the use of artificial lighting, and his ascent into the skies over Paris in a hot air balloon, from which he took the first aerial photographs. He recounts his "postal photography" during the 1870-1871 Siege of Paris--an amazing scheme involving micrographic images and carrier pigeons. He describes technical innovations and important figures in photography, and offers a thoughtful consideration of society and culture; but he also writes entertainingly about such matters as Balzac's terror of being photographed, the impact of a photograph on a celebrated murder case, and the difference between male and female clients. Nadar's memoir captures, as surely as his photographs, traces of a vanished era.

Details

  • Title When I Was a Photographer
  • Author Felix Nadar; Eduardo Cadava (Translator); Liana Theodoratou (Translator)
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Pages 336
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher MIT Press
  • Date 2015-11
  • ISBN 9780262029452 / 0262029456
  • Weight 1.1 lbs (0.50 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.1 x 5.6 x 1 in (20.57 x 14.22 x 2.54 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Library of Congress subjects Photography - France - Anecdotes, Photographers - France - Anecdotes
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2015001894
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

About the author

Flix Nadar (1820-1910) is one of the greatest figures in the history of photography. Eduardo Cadava, a writer, translator, and scholar, is the author of Words of Light: Theses on the Photography of History, coeditor of The Itinerant Languages of Photography, and Professor of English at Princeton University. Liana Theodoratou, Clinical Professor of Hellenic Studies and Director of the A. S. Onassis Program in Hellenic Studies at New York University, is a scholar and writer and the translator of several works by Althusser, Derrida, and Foucault into modern Greek. Eduardo Cadava, a writer, translator, and scholar, is the author of Words of Light: Theses on the Photography of History, coeditor of The Itinerant Languages of Photography, and Professor of English at Princeton University. Liana Theodoratou, Clinical Professor of Hellenic Studies and Director of the A. S. Onassis Program in Hellenic Studies at New York University, is a scholar and writer and the translator of several works by Althusser, Derrida, and Foucault into modern Greek.
Back to Top

More Copies for Sale

When I Was a Photographer (The MIT Press)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

When I Was a Photographer (The MIT Press)

by Nadar, Felix

  • Used
  • very good
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9780262029452
ISBN 10
0262029456
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Simi Valley, California, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$13.60
NZ$6.74 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
The MIT Press, 2015-11-06. Hardcover. Very Good. 1.1102 9.1299 6.5709.
Item Price
NZ$13.60
NZ$6.74 shipping to USA
When I Was a Photographer
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

When I Was a Photographer

by Felix Nadar

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Like New
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9780262029452
ISBN 10
0262029456
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$16.05
NZ$5.91 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
MIT. Used - Like New. Near fine. Hardcover with pictorial boards. 2015. Originally published at $26.95.
Item Price
NZ$16.05
NZ$5.91 shipping to USA
When I Was a Photographer (Mit Press)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

When I Was a Photographer (Mit Press)

by Felix Nadar

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used Very Good
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9780262029452
ISBN 10
0262029456
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Kutztown, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$16.88
NZ$9.29 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
The MIT Press, November 2015. Hardcover. Used Very Good/No Jacket. Front and back covers have very light edge and corner wear. Spine intact with no creasing or warping. Binding is tight and intact, pages clean and unmarked. We carry new and used books in our storefront. We want you to be satisfied with your purchase. Please contact us if you have questions regarding this item.
Item Price
NZ$16.88
NZ$9.29 shipping to USA
When I Was a Photographer
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

When I Was a Photographer

by Nadar, Félix

  • Used
Condition
Used - Very Good
ISBN 13
9780262029452
ISBN 10
0262029456
Quantity Available
2
Seller
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$25.32
NZ$25.32 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Mit Pr. Used - Very Good.
Item Price
NZ$25.32
NZ$25.32 shipping to USA
When I Was a Photographer (The MIT Press)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

When I Was a Photographer (The MIT Press)

by Nadar, Felix; Cadava, Eduardo [Translator]; Theodoratou, Liana [Translator];

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used: Good
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9780262029452
ISBN 10
0262029456
Quantity Available
1
Seller
HOUSTON, Texas, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$28.40
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
The MIT Press, 2015-11-06. Hardcover. Used: Good.
Item Price
NZ$28.40
FREE shipping to USA
When I Was a Photographer (Mit Press)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

When I Was a Photographer (Mit Press)

by Nadar, Felix

  • Used
Condition
UsedVeryGood
ISBN 13
9780262029452
ISBN 10
0262029456
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$40.17
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedVeryGood. signs of little wear on the cover.
Item Price
NZ$40.17
FREE shipping to USA
When I Was a Photographer (Mit Press)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

When I Was a Photographer (Mit Press)

by Nadar, Felix

  • Used
Condition
UsedVeryGood
ISBN 13
9780262029452
ISBN 10
0262029456
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$40.17
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedVeryGood. Minor shelf wear
Item Price
NZ$40.17
FREE shipping to USA
When I Was a Photographer (Mit Press)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

When I Was a Photographer (Mit Press)

by Nadar, Felix

  • Used
Condition
UsedLikeNew
ISBN 13
9780262029452
ISBN 10
0262029456
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$41.01
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedLikeNew. Remainder mark
Item Price
NZ$41.01
FREE shipping to USA
When I Was a Photographer (Mit Press)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

When I Was a Photographer (Mit Press)

by Nadar, Felix

  • Used
Condition
UsedLikeNew
ISBN 13
9780262029452
ISBN 10
0262029456
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$41.01
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedLikeNew. Remainder mark
Item Price
NZ$41.01
FREE shipping to USA
When I Was a Photographer (Mit Press)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

When I Was a Photographer (Mit Press)

by Nadar, Felix

  • New
Condition
New
ISBN 13
9780262029452
ISBN 10
0262029456
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$42.30
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
New. .
Item Price
NZ$42.30
FREE shipping to USA